Moody Me

Hello, my friends!  I can't begin to tell you how much I have missed being here on the blog this past month.  There I had made a big promise to post about our Brimfield adventures, and then I just fell off the map.  Two things happened: first, my little Brimfield post kept growing and growing into a big, all-encompassing flea market post.  Not unlike Brimfield itself, it started spilling out over the sides and becoming a little more than I could handle in just one brief post, so I've decided to develop it more and take my time with it.  Second, my life speeded up much faster than I had planned.  I have too much on my plate with work right now, and I haven't been able to keep up with, well, much else.  

But all that is boring.  All that matters is that I'm here now.  I managed to steal some time this week to do a still life shoot or two--woohoo!  The shot above is a vase I inherited from my Memere.  It's filled with purple and chartreuse posies from our gardens.  The backdrop is an old, beat up blackboard.  The fabric is a pretty scarf I bought in London at Spitalfields.  The lighting is my steady favorite--the moody north light I get coming through the window in my study/studio.  Have I told you before that this window is beside the bathroom door, so I end up doing a lot of shoots against that door, which often means blocking access to the bathroom for hours.  Good thing we have a second bathroom downstairs!

I was thrilled to discover this morning that the photo had been included by my amazing friends Kim and Aeleen in their #fouriadorefriday feature on Instagram.  You can take a peek at the beautiful grid they selected here.

This week here in coastal Maine we are finally having springish/summerish weather!!!  The sun is shining and the gardens are bursting with life.  I'm working in them whenever I have a moment to spare.  You'd think all my photos at the moment would be flooded with light and white and beachy sunshine, but I'm kind of loving dwelling in the darker, moodier realm right now.  The shot below is a "portrait" of Mr. Magpie.  Those who know him know why this is a portrait.  ;)

Sending a warm hug, lovelies!  More very soon.  xoxo Gigi

Vintage Spring

Hello, chickadees!  Just stopping in to share some spring blossoms.  The crabapple is blooming in the front yard, and the lilacs and azaleas have just joined in, too.  Next up will be the viburnums and rhodies, and then the weigelas, mock oranges, and bridal veil spirea will follow not long after that.  

Life is a rush of activity this spring, but we did take one day to hit Brimfield Flea Market with our friend Kazeem, from Portland Trading Co.  I'll have some photos and finds to share soon!

My photo above was featured by DistressedFX on their Instagram feed and Facebook page this week.  If you haven't tried this app, I recommend it for photos that you want to really manipulate and push in exciting directions.  I use this app as well as Stackables to create moody effects for some of my iPhone photos.  I think I ended up using both apps on the top photo of the crabapple blossoms.  Before I used the textures, though, I upped the exposure and desaturated the photo a bit.  The background of that photo is my picnic table, which most people would think really needs a paint job, but I use it a lot for photos, so it will stay shabby chic a while longer.  ;)  

For photos I take with my big girl camera, I often use fewer textures and stick to subtler processing techniques in Lightroom.  I do some of that processing from scratch or with my own presets, but I also use presets by other folks, including this exciting new set from Kim Klassen.  Presets provide me with so much flexibility, and they give me ideas for creating several moods with one shot.  If you've never tried them before, take a peek at Kim's collection.  I think you will love it.

Vintage finds from Brimfield in the next post!  I have some exciting things to show you.  

Happy weekend, my friends! 

Dreams and Schemes

I've been working in the garden whenever I have a little spare time, which usually means early morning or just before sunset--the two most beautiful times of day.  We spread yards and yards of compost last week, and still have more to go on some of the beds, but I'm not rushing.  These are days meant to be savored.  As you an see, the fritillaria and 'thalia' daffodils are blooming this week, as are the primroses and grape hyacinths.  The tulips are just about to open, and in the woodland gardens, things like epimedium and lungwort are at their peak.

I've allowed myself to cut and bring inside just a few specimens for still lifes, as usual.  I always love photographing them, but I love them in the garden even more.  As much as I enjoy arranging large, elaborate bouquets (just wait until the dahlias and roses are blooming) I also love really simple clusters of flowers--not arranged at all, but just tossed in a dundee jar.  They say springtime to me.  In a couple of photos below, I've included my latest find, this sweet little watering can, which I bought at my friend Melissa's incredible garden-inspired shop here in Portland.  If you are ever visiting coastal Maine, a stop at Fiachre is a must!

Oddly enough, I had begun taking some shots of the watering can and flowers over the weekend, and then I saw my friend Kim's latest prompt in the Online Studio: Potting Bench!  Well, that was an easy one, since my shots already looked like potting bench-inspired photos.  As I took these, I thought a lot about my plans for the garden this year.  In the photo below, you'll see that my gardening journal is opened up to a page I sketched our first fall in this house.  Nothing really ended up as I'd planned it, of course, but that's not the point.  I love dreaming and scheming, and discovering surprises along the way.  Among the surprises in the garden this spring are the lady's mantles that have self-seeded, which I was hoping they'd do, but you can never plan for these kinds of happy accidents.  I'm also excited to see that the lilacs, which I've trimmed back hard for two years, are looking the best they've been yet.  Soon there will be blooms to share.

Have I told you that I'm devoting one of the raised beds to nothing but cutting flowers this year?  I can't wait to see how it turns out, but in the meantime, I am loving the elegant fritillaria, with their little checked blossoms, hanging like plum bells beneath the wings of the white daffodils in the early morning light.

Chasing More Light

I wrote in my last post about chasing the light.  It's true, I spend much of my time when I'm shooting pictures watching for certain kinds of light, hoping for clouds to pass--or to appear--depending on my needs and whims.  There's a corner in my study/studio/hideaway with a small window that  I love for its northern light.  It's never a warm, glowing kind of light.  Daylight coming through a north facing window has a coolness to it that makes for moody, slightly melancholy photos.  That's just what I wanted when I took the above shot.  And it's something I really accentuated as I processed it in Lightroom.  I desaturated the photo quite a bit and added some graininess.  The three kinds of tulips in this photo were all incredibly vivid; I wanted the richness of their colors, but not necessarily the intensity.  I also wanted the light coming from the side, so that the curves of the petals would be traced by it and there would be a sense of shadow just off to the left of the photo--not darkness, but a gentle fade into shadow.  

I actually shot this at the very end of the day using only natural light (I use natural light almost exclusively).  I kept the ISO at 200 because I wanted to be in control of the grain during processing. I also let the photo be a little on the dark side, knowing that I would lighten the exposure later.  This let me take a lot of shots in the fading light, and as the room grew dark around me, the photos got better.  This is one of about 30 shots I took during that hour.  There are more that I will share sometime soon.  I'd been sick all day, fighting off a flu, but I told myself, "You've got one good hour of light left.  DO something with it."  I'm so glad I ignored my headache and chills, and did a wee bit of light chasing.

This shot was something else entirely.  I took it the week before the tulip photos in response to a lesson from the fabulous Kim Klassen in her Be Still--52 class, in which she asked us to do a backlit shot.  For that assignment, I set up a small table in front of a south facing window in my bedroom, and I took a series of photos in the mid afternoon when the sun was quite intense. Southern light is usually much brighter and cheerier--more golden than northern light.  It can also be very intense, especially in a backlit shot.  To soften the possible harshness of the afternoon sunshine and to block any trace of the view outside the window, I stretched a piece of cheesecloth across the window.  I  wanted the cheesecloth to have a bit more texture and some shadows, so I poked several white feathers into it.  Because the focus of the shot is on the silk flower, the feathers don't read as feathers; they read as texture.  I added the organza ribbon to give the image one more layer that the light could play with.  I was especially happy that I could get some shimmer off it in the right side of the frame while on the left the ribbon intensifies the feeling of shadow.  

Beneath the flower is a very old, very worn and faded piece of Irish linen that's printed with large cabbage roses.  I love using distressed fabrics in my photos.  The more worn the better.  I especially love using things like linen and burlap in contrast to light gauzes and tulles.  As with the tulip photo, I took out a lot of the saturation when I processed this.  

I think light is the single most important element in photography.  It has everything to do with setting mood and tone in a picture.  Many things can be played with in processing--cropping, composition, saturation, exposure, etc.--but light quality (I'm referring less to the how much of it, and more to the type of it) is essential from the get go.  It's more important than having a fancy camera (mine is not particularly fancy) or a bag full of expensive lenses.  Those things are wonderful and helpful, but you can take gorgeous shots with your phone or your point and shoot . . . as long as you're willing to chase the light.

P.S. I want to thank Kim Klassen for featuring my above tulip photo on her Instagram feed over the weekend, along with photos by three wonderful photographers.  I also want to thank her for featuring the silk peony photo on her blog a couple of weeks ago as one of the selections for the Still Sunday competition.  It was an honor to have my work included alongside such gorgeous photos.  

I am blessed to have found an incredible community of writers and picture makers and takers over the past six years that I've been blogging.  As that community grows and friendships deepen, I discover new opportunities for learning every week.  I can't imagine a greater joy.  

A Year and a Word

My word for 2015 is see.  Of all my senses, I am most inspired by sight, which is a bit ironic, I suppose, since I have weak eyesight, both near and far.  If you were to watch the steps I need to take to set up and shoot a simple photo like the ones of these pears, you might wonder why I bother.   

And yet, I cannot imagine my life without photography or gardening or design.  My writing process is also profoundly influenced by imagery, whether I'm crafting a poem, an essay, an article, or a piece of fiction.  A good sentence begins for me with an image and moves from there.

I'm grateful for the technology that lets my weak eyes see, and I never take it for granted.  I chose this word for 2015 to remind myself to use my eyes, my mind, and my heart to really see, to take in the play of light and shadow through a lace curtain on a summer afternoon or the rough and nobbled grain of the wood on an old farm table--to see things as they are, on their own terms.  And this goes for people as well as things . . . and animals, too.  I want to foster in myself a greater sense of empathy for others and for whatever journeys they may be on.  

I have a full year ahead in my work life as well as my home life, and I know that truly seeing will require me to stop and take long stretches of time.  I am often good about guarding and using my writing time to its fullest, but I need to be better about sitting still and being quiet just to simply see. This will make me a better artist, a better writer, and, I hope, a wiser and richer me.  

I gave myself the gift this new year of signing up for a still life class with my dear friend Kim Klassen.  Kim is one of the most inspiring people I know, so if you are looking for some creative inspiration in 2015, take a peek here.  For me, Be Still--Fifty-Two couldn't be a more perfect way to take that time I need to see.

Have you chosen a word for the year?  If so, please feel free to share it in the comments.  I'd love to learn what word you've selected and why.   

Crisp

Have I mentioned that October is my favorite month of the year?  Here in Maine it means apple-picking, cider, trees with leaves the color of lit matches, crisp nights of the open-the-window-a-crack-and-pile-on-the-blankets variety, and chilly days of the pack-up-the-picnic-basket-and-dress-warmly-to-share-lunch-by-the-sea (or the pond, or the stream, or on top of the little mountain just up the road) variety.  

To be honest, we're having a bit of an Indian Summer this weekend, but that is lovely, too.  And it doesn't keep me from baking.  So, here's my Apple Crisp recipe.  It's one I sort of made up as I went along several years ago.  I've tried many varieties of apples for making crisp, but I usually come back to a blend of Granny Smiths for tartness (always, always, always) with Cortlands and/or Macouns for sweetness.  I love McIntosh apples for eating, but I never use them for baking, because I like the apples to hold a little of their shape in a crisp, tart, or pie, and McIntoshes simply don't.  They turn to applesauce instead.  Cortlands and Macouns were bred from the McIntosh  crossed with other varieties to make the best of their traits and eliminate some of the mealiness that McIntoshes can have.

Now, I know many folks are very choosy about accompaniments for their apple crisp.  Some insist on whipped cream, others like ice cream, and others like caramel sauce and ice cream.  I say, to each her own.  I don't care for caramel sauce on mine because I like the apple flavor to be the highlight, but I do love a scoop of either vanilla bean or coffee ice cream served alongside the warm crisp.  Another fantastic accompaniment, especially if you love combining savory with sweet, is some very sharp cheddar cheese.  When I was a girl, my dad would often slide a slice of cheddar under the "lid" of a slice of apple pie.  I thought it was a strange thing to do until the first time I tried it, and then I understood.  Oh, boy, did I.  The same principle applies with apple crisp.

The Magpie's Apple Crisp   

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Butter a 2-quart baking dish
• Peel, core and slice about 8 apples (I use 4 Granny Smiths and 4 Cortlands or Macouns to achieve a blend of sweet and tart)
• Fill the baking dish with the apples and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them.  Toss to coat the apples with the juice.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, toss together: 

1/2 cup white flour

1/4 cup wheat flour

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar 

a handful or two (to taste) of chopped pecans

• Blend into the topping ingredients with a pastry blender or fingertips:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

• Sprinkle the topping over the apples.
• Bake at 375 for 50-55 minutes.

NOTE: I jotted this recipe down in 2006 as I went along.  It was one of those special recipes that came together like a dream.  At the end I wrote: "Serve warm with ice cream. Give Todd extra!"  Reading this makes me smile every single time.  Enjoy, my friends.


P.S. A special thanks to Maureen Nichols for including my Cinderella pumpkin photo in her post at The Inspiration Studio today!

Local Joys

I love my town.  Have I told you that?  It is a truly remarkable city.  In one weekend I got to shop at the Maine College of Art Holiday Art and Craft Fair, take a free horse and wagon ride with my sweetheart through the Old Port, go on the Holiday Stroll at the funky shops in my neighborhood, eat astonishing pizza at the best pizza place ever, rent actual DVDs from a real local video store (remember those?) that has nearly every movie you could ever want in stock, and watch the Maine Red Claws play some seriously good basketball (plus, it began to snow lightly as we left the game).  

(I used  Kim Klassen's greyday stone texture when processing this photo.)

Next week we'll be joining in with a sing-along of the Hallelujah Chorus at a local church (I hope good singers stand near me and drown me out!) and doing a little more holiday shopping at local stores.  I avoid the mall as much as possible during the holidays, partly because I can't stand it, but mostly because I believe in shopping at local businesses.  I can't think of a better way to support the community I live in and find beautiful, unique gifts at the same time.  Do you have any favorite local places (including perhaps your own shop!) where you go for cool gifts?  Share them here!

Oh, and in the last photo that's a detail of the menu on the wall at Otto Pizza.  Yes, that is squash, ricotta, and cranberry pizza, and yes, it is to die for.  Come have a slice with me!    

Legacy IX: The Legacy of Sweet Auntie Marg

What a joy it is for me to share this week's Legacy contributor with you.  Kim Klassen is, simply put, a blogging and photography goddess.  She and I first found each other almost exactly a year ago, and she has rocked my little world ever since then.  You can find her at her blog, Kim Klassen Cafe, where she shares fantastic photography tips and textures as well as peeks into her rich life, including her husband, sons, dogs, long walks, beautiful barns, and much more.  You can also find Kim and several other fantastic women over at The Inspiration Studio, where every day they offer tips, ideas, and encouragement for living a creative life.  Kim offers incredible e-courses in processing and using textures, so if you've always wanted to learn more about texturing but have felt intimidated, visit the Cafe or the Studio to find out more about her classes and to sign up for her mailing list.  She has been a wonderful friend to me this year, and it's a treat to share her words and images with you.     

Dear sweet Gigi... I am so honoured to be here, sharing in your amazing 'home'.  I am such a fan of everything Gigi....

I have read some of the past legacy posts....and wow... they are truly all so very beautiful. 

I've been pondering my post on legacy since Gigi asked me to do this back in August..... I have had so many ideas running through my almost always spinning head.  You see I am surrounded by pieces of the past....family treasures are here there and everywhere in our home.

Originally I thought I would share a few stories behind the treasures I have been blessed to inherit.....

But recently my sweet Auntie Marg took a quick turn for the worse in her battle with cancer and passed away just a few days ago.

I grew up spending summers and holidays with Auntie Marg. She never had children of her own. But she loved each of her nieces and nephews dearly.  She was a teacher so she had nice long summer breaks.  I would hop on the bus and head to Auntie Marg and Uncle Vern's for weeks at a time.... When I was about 12 my family moved to the same town as Auntie Marg was living and the town where my Dad grew up.  Since then, we have been together for every birthday, celebration, holiday....and just because for years and years..... 

My parents, Auntie Marg, my brother and his family, along with me and mine... still live in the same tiny prairie town.  Auntie Marg loved having us all for dinner...and she was not satisfied until we were all completely STUFFED. 

Auntie Marg was the type of person that was always concerned about others first.  She loved to spoil everyone with the most delicious baking.  Always adding a little more to the recipe... a pinch more sugar, a tab more lard... etc....  and my oh my was it good!

Auntie Marg spent countless hours with my boys.  It was nothing for them to land on her doorstep and stay for several days.  They would soak up the love, the good cooking and the comforts of home away from home.  She made them the most delicious chocolate shakes, yummy french toast....and all kinds of baked goodies.  They loved being with Auntie Marg.

She was very down to earth....nothing deep or complicated about her.  She was a school teacher and a strict one at that....  But with my boys, nope, never... she was the softest soul.....  She spoiled them with love.  There was nothing she would not do for any of us.... 

Yesterday, was her funeral service.....  at the service my husband gave her eulogy and my boys both shared as well.  Brett wrote her a poem and read it to all....  this was not an easy task for a 20 year old young man who is usually very shy in public... But for Auntie Marg he was more than happy to do it.   Bryce wrote a small dedication to Auntie Marg. He's been having a very difficult time with all of this.  And as his mom, it's hard to see him hurting.  I pray his heart heals and he can move through the pain. 

Auntie Marg and Bryce were extremely close.... there was a special bond between the two of them.  'sigh'

I wanted to share a snippet of Bryce's dedication here today.

'She was a person unlike anyone I have ever known.  Unlike anyone I will ever know.  And since her passing I feel an emptiness within my heart.  Auntie Marg meant so much to me.  More than I think a lot of people will understand.  I loved her so very much.  And to a person like myself... a person who has made so many mistakes in life, being with her reminded me that no matter what happens, life is a beautiful thing.  And if anyone has left such an everlasting impression on "mine"... It was Auntie Marg. '

I believe Bryce's snippet summarizes a beautiful legacy left behind.....

To my dear sweet Auntie Marg... may you live in our hearts....forever and always.....

My images today are of a tiny crock Auntie Marg gave to me a few years ago.....  it's been sitting pretty on a shelf in my kitchen....  I will cherish it always.  The old remington belonged to my Grandfather, Auntie Marg's father...whom she loved so deeply.  He was a truly kind and gentle man......

As I sat in the church yesterday, listening to my boys speak so sweetly of their auntie.......  I thought to myself......Auntie Marg lives on...through the beautiful hearts of my children.... and for that I am truly thankful.....

thank you so much for allowing me to share this Gigi..... 

I truly adore you.... xxo, kim